Kaplan v. Bratton

Decision Date28 April 1998
Citation673 N.Y.S.2d 66,249 A.D.2d 199
Parties, 1998 N.Y. Slip Op. 3796 In re Application of Doctor Susan A. KAPLAN, Petitioner-Respondent, For a Judgment, etc., v. William J. BRATTON, etc., Respondent-Appellant.
CourtNew York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Susan Courtney Chambers, for petitioner-respondent.

Helen P. Brown, for respondent-appellant.

Before SULLIVAN, J.P., and ROSENBERGER, RUBIN, TOM and ANDRIAS, JJ.

MEMORANDUM DECISION.

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Emily Goodman, J.), entered December 19, 1996, granting the petition to annul respondent Commissioner's determination which denied petitioner's application for a pistol license, unanimously reversed, on the law and the facts, without costs, the petition denied, and the proceeding brought pursuant to CPLR article 78 dismissed.

On May 21, 1994, petitioner, a urologist residing in New Jersey, applied to the New York City Police Department License Division for a Carry Pistol License. As required by 38 RCNY 5-08(b)(8)(I), she attached a letter of necessity, in which she set forth the reasons why she needed the permit. She alleged that she traveled at night in New York City to meet with patients or to attend to emergencies at the hospitals with which she was affiliated (Columbia Presbyterian, St. Luke's-Roosevelt and St. Vincent's), and that she feared for her personal safety. The Director of Urology at St. Luke's-Roosevelt submitted a letter in support of these assertions.

At her interview with the License Division, petitioner admitted that although she was on call 24 hours a day, her office hours were generally 7:30 AM to 8:00 PM. In over 10 years of practicing medicine, she had never been the victim of a crime. She had burglar alarms in her car and office and was also trained in martial arts.

Upon investigation, the License Division learned from the Senior Vice President at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital that the hospital did not allow anyone to carry firearms on the premises. The License Division was unable to discover whether petitioner's other hospitals had similar policies.

Furthermore, because petitioner did not have a carry permit in New Jersey, where she lived, she would have had to unload her handgun and place it in a locked box before entering New Jersey every night. The License Division was concerned that this would create a public safety risk (as this court found in Fondacaro v. Kelly, 234 A.D.2d 173, 177, 652 N.Y.S.2d 604, lv. denied 89 N.Y.2d 812, 657 N.Y.S.2d 405, 679 N.E.2d 644). Petitioner subsequently submitted a phone bill with a New York home address, but since the phone number was the same as the one previously indicated as her home number in New Jersey, the License Division did not consider this sufficient proof of a change of residence.

On March 29, 1995, the License Division denied petitioner's application. As set forth in the notice of disapproval, the reasons for the denial were as follows: Her business was not the type normally targeted by armed robbers; she did not carry or deposit large amounts of cash; St. Luke's-Roosevelt objected to staff carrying weapons on the premises; and, the information she submitted was not consistent with the Division's own investigation, i.e., with respect to her place of residence. Overall, petitioner failed to distinguish herself from the millions of people who come to work in New York without a concealed weapon.

Petitioner then appealed to the License Division, presenting new documentation of her alleged move to New York and the names of other doctors who had been granted a carry permit. When this appeal proved unsuccessful, she brought an Article 78 proceeding to compel the Division to grant her a license. The IAS court found that the Division's disapproval of her application was arbitrary and capricious. According to the court, the proper inquiry was not how petitioner was different from others whose applications had been denied, but how she was different from those whose applications had been granted. The Division had not presented facts distinguishing her from this latter class of persons.

The issuance of a pistol license is not a right, but a privilege subject to reasonable...

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    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. Southern District of New York
    • 2 de setembro de 2011
    ...Bando v. Sullivan, 290 A.D.2d 691, 735 N.Y.S.2d 660, 662 (3d Dep't 2002) (internal quotation marks omitted); Kaplan v. Bratton, 249 A.D.2d 199, 673 N.Y.S.2d 66, 68 (1st Dep't 1998) (internal quotation marks omitted); Williams v. Bratton, 238 A.D.2d 269, 656 N.Y.S.2d 626, 627 (1st Dep't 1997......
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    • United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. United States District Court of Northern District of New York
    • 20 de maio de 2011
    ...See, e.g., Vale v. Eidens, 290 A.D.2d 612, 613, 735 N.Y.S.2d 650 (3d Dep't 2002) (citation omitted); Kaplan v. Bratton, 249 A.D.2d 199, 201, 673 N.Y.S.2d 66 (1st Dep't 1998) (citation omitted); Fromson v. Nelson, 178 A.D.2d 479, 479, 577 N.Y.S.2d 417 (2d Dep't 1991) (citation omitted); Marl......
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